Welcome to the kitchen forum! About posting pictures -- have you seen the instructions in the "ReadMe" thread (link below)? The key is to understand that there is no photo hosting capability on this site; you can't "attach" photos the way you could in an email. You need a website like photobucket (or, my favorite, Google's picasa) where you can upload and store your photos. Then you can add in links to them in the messages you post here. About your countertop question: how much light is there in the kitchen? Are there multiple windows? If not, I'd be careful about going really dark with the counters... but that is a personal preference. It's not as if there are rules about how to make these choices. If only there were -- then it wouldn't be so hard to decide! Are you sticking with laminate for the counters, or considering other materials? Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me for GardenWeb kitchen forum

what is the wood species of your island....and what is the perimeter in your space? I think because it's the island, I might pick a slightly lighter stain and have them glaze it,as long as you have some detail for the glaze to lay on. For an island, this kind of a detail, not complicated to achieve ,would be actually easier at this point than the trial and error trying to find just the right pigment to"allow" grain toshow......and really on the island, being below counter, not sure it's going to be appreciated so much...up on the walls where light hits and your eyes naturally get the full on view is a different matter. It's just going to look dark below the counter once you go that dark with an all over stain.....so add café or dark bronze glaze to a medium-dark stain......easy!

Thanks for the comments. I like all your advice and really expected people to tell me to go with the smoke and not white. I am posting images of the two tiles . To answer epressler's question the smoke subway tile is not glass but a crackled finish just like the off white subway tile. Yes, the granite does have a small amount of white flecks in it but since the kitchen is so dark with not much afternoon sun, the counters look and feel darker than the photo I posted. I know some under cabinet lighting would help but I am not going to have lights on during the day so that is one reason for the white subway tile idea. I like subway because most of the kitchens I admire use it. Most of the kitchen I admire also have a lot of white either in marble or painted cabinets. I feel like I did not choose very traditional countertops but my taste is traditional and my long term plan is to keep the cabinets forever and just think about painting them white someday when they start looking old. I also like dianalos comment about the valances. I chose the ones I did because I love oranges and yellows but maybe I should look into finding a new fabric that is not so dark and your comment about needing to go with white tile to change the effect seems spot on. The new images I am posting of the tile samples don't show the crackle finish but you will see one is much deeper and the bevel stands out...that one is also $30/sq. ft. ...the white one is only 12.99/sq. ft. and the bevel is not as neat but the white is crackled and almost a little iridescent. I am linking the photos in the optional link url. Does anyone know how to just get them to show up on my post?? Here is a link that might be useful: more photos of tile

I'd suggest your builder start a relationship with an additional supplier--is he really okay with never doing cherry again? :) My idiot GC was able to source cherry doors and (custom 50s style) trim. So can yours!